


I'll Settle For The Beach

by queerhazeleyes



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Break Up, F/M, M/M, Pre-Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 17:24:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2630066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerhazeleyes/pseuds/queerhazeleyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was always going to happen. That doesn't mean it's anybody's fault, or that they can't be friends anymore. But it does mean that, at least for now, Pepper needs to be somewhere that isn't Manhattan. </p>
<p>Inspired by Sara Barielles's song "Manhattan"</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Settle For The Beach

“Tony, this isn’t working.”

He let his breath out in something not heavy enough to be a sigh and for a second tried to look anywhere but Pepper. At a loss for what to say, he finally offered, “I’m sorry.”

“Tony.” She wriggled closer on the couch to catch his chin with two fingers. Reluctantly Tony met her eyes. “It’s not your fault.”

“Well, it’s not yours, so that makes it mine,” he said, trying for glib but it came out closer to lost.

“Breakups don’t have to be anyone’s fault.” Pepper’s hand was gentle on Tony’s face; he could easily turn his head away if he wanted, but he stayed still. “We’re both too busy for this, we travel too much—and that’s okay, it’s our jobs, and I wouldn’t want you to give up the Avengers any more than you would ask me to give up my work at Stark Industries,” Tony’s mouth turned down, but she just shook her head. “You know as well as I do that it’s for the best.”

“No I don’t,” Tony lied. Pepper just raised an eyebrow. He knew her better than to expect her to buy that; Pepper Potts had the best Tony Stark bullshit meter in the world. He could lie about what color underwear he had on and she would be able to tell. At length, he swallowed past the lump forming in his throat. “I don’t want to lose you, Pep.”

“Oh, Tony.” That little crease had formed between her eyebrows and he reached instinctively to smooth it away. She let him, eyes closing as she leaned into his touch. “You can’t get rid of me if you tried,” she said. Her eyes opened when he moved his hand away. “I’m not going to stop being your CEO, and I certainly won’t stop being your friend. We’ve been through too much together.” Tears were forming in her eyes; she ignored them to brush a chaste kiss across Tony’s lips.

When she’d pulled away, Tony needed a moment before he could manage to speak again. “I, uh, I guess this means you’re moving out.”

This time it was Pepper who ducked her head, finally dropping her light hold on Tony’s chin. “I was thinking about going back to Malibu for a while,” she admitted. She looked back up at the punched-out sound he made at that. “While we get used to things. I like it there, and…Manhattan was always what you wanted.”

Tony found he could only nod at that. After a second he wrapped his arms around Pepper and drew her close so her face was tucked into the crook of his neck, his chin resting on the top of her head.

“Tony,” she protested weakly, even as she curled a hand in his tee shirt, twisting the fabric tightly between her fingers.

“Shush, I’m being your friend right now.”

She conceded, safe in his embrace with the thrum of his pulse steady under her ear and the whisper of his exhale gently ruffling her hair.

* * *

 

She didn’t bother hiring movers; really it was mostly just her wardrobe Pepper had to pack up. Avengers Tower had been her home for a while, but it was furnished about the same as any other SI property: warm, but impersonal. She was in the elevator with her last suitcase when Steve came running from the common area, still in his Captain America uniform and his hair sticking up in all directions from his cowl. “Wait!” he called. “JARVIS, hold the elevator.” He slid to a halt just inside the doors, face flushed. They pinged shut behind him. “I just got in from Argentina,” he said. “I heard the news about, well, you and Tony. I wanted to say—I’m sorry. And I’ll miss having you around.”

Pepper smiled the smile she’d been wearing a lot lately around her friends, one part gratitude and one part grief. “Thanks, Steve.”

As though realizing he was now stuck in an elevator with her, Steve scuffed his boot along the floor. “So, uh, what happened?” he asked, cringing a little.

“Nothing,” said Pepper. “We just make better friends than we do lovers, is all.”

“Oh.”

Pepper pursed her lips, considering. _To hell with it._ “JARVIS, pause the elevator.” It whirred to a quiet stop; Steve was looking at her, alarmed. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but. I’ve seen the way Tony looks at you. And the way you look back.”

Steve flushed dark red, eyes going wide. “I wouldn’t—We—Tony would _never_ —” he protested quickly, shaking his head.

She held up a hand. “I know,” she interrupted gently. “I wasn’t accusing you; Tony has never been a cheater. That’s not…” She took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is, I don’t want you to hold back from something that could make you both happy because—because you think you’re not good enough, or because he and I have a history, or any kind of, of bullshit like that. You two could be really good together, in ways that he and I never were.” Pepper caught his eye insistently, trying to make Steve understand. “He deserves to be happy, Steve, even if that’s not with me. And so do you.”

“I…thank you?” Steve rubbed at the back of his neck. “For your blessing, I mean.”

Pepper nodded. “JARVIS, resume the elevator.” It transitioned smoothly back to motion. “You should come visit Malibu sometime,” she said after a moment. “There’s some galleries I think you’d really enjoy.”

“Yeah, sure, Pepper. I’d like that.”

They reached the lobby and Pepper paused a second before she disembarked. “Take care of him for me, will you? He’s…”

“I know,” Steve said with a small smile of his own. “I will.”

* * *

 

Summer sunsets were breathtaking in California. Pepper, shoes dangling from one hand, walked the stretch of private beach in front of her Malibu residence. The sand was warm and damp beneath her feet, still holding on to the heat of the day, and she wiggled her toes reflexively.

She would be okay, Pepper knew. Maybe not right away, she amended as she brushed a tear from her cheek with the hand not holding her shoes. But that was okay too. Adjusting to being single took time. She’d been part of a pair for so long that flying solo would unexpectedly make her feel unbalanced and off-kilter. That would pass. And as far as Pepper was concerned, there was no better place to be sad than somewhere beautiful.


End file.
